The Colorado Avalanche played the Golden Knights Friday afternoon for their first ever regular-season visit to Las Vegas. The game fell on a statewide holiday in Nevada which caused puck drop to be at an obscure 3 PM start, 4 PM in Denver. The Avalanche were defeated by the Golden Knights by the score of 7-0 putting the Avs at 5-5-0 ten games into the season.
The first five minutes of the game were mostly played in Colorado’s defensive zone, but the Avalanche weathered the storm and play eventually evened out. The shots ended at 8-6 in favor of the Avs but the score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes of play.
The Avs started the second period dominating the pace of play, but a mismanaged puck in the offensive zone led to a breakaway from David Perron who beat Semyon Varlamov on his backhand 8:50 into the period.
Three minutes later, at 12:19 in the period, Vegas’ Oscar Lindberg created a turnover on his defensive blue line and eventually burrowed his way to the net. His shot bounced off of a few sticks and fluttered over Varlamov’s glove. The Avalanche challenged wether or not Lindberg was offside on his zone entry, but the goal was upheld and Colorado was assessed a minor penalty.
A third goal for Vegas was scored soon after when a David Perron shot was sent wide and bounced out off of the boards behind the net. Cody Eakin picked up the puck alongside the goal and scored on an open net.
The Golden Knights managed to score a fourth goal before the period was over, essentially putting the game out of reach for the Avalanche. Vegas’ leading goal scorer James Neal redirected a shot from the point and sent the puck over Varlamov’s left shoulder for the final scoring play of the period.
Despite winning the shot-on-goal tally 13-7 in the second period and 21-13 in the game, the Avalanche trailed 4-0 at the intermission. A comeback seemed doubtful at this point as the failed goal-challenge deflated Colorado and the Golden Knights held all of the momentum.
In the third period, the story was no different. The Golden Knights continued the onslaught when Jonathan Marchessault tapped in a rebound through Varlamov’s legs as he attempted to pull in the puck and cover it with his glove. Vegas led 5-0.
A.J. Greer was later penalized and ejected for attempting to fight Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and the Golden Knights took advantage. Quick puck movement by Vegas on the ensuing power-play found Erik Haula in the slot. Haula got his shot off quickly and caught Varlamov off-guard and the Knights were up 6-0 with 12:31 left in the game.
The scoring wasn’t over for Vegas, however. William Carrier tallied the Golden Knights’ seventh goal after a neutral-zone turnover by the Avalanche turned into another breakaway that Carrier put over Varlamov’s blocker and would be the final goal of the game.
Alex Kerfoot left the game and did not return after being hit by Brayden McNabb while looking the wrong direction.
The Avalanche play the second night of their back-to-back against the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday evening at Pepsi Center. Puck drops at 7 PM MST.
